in the early days of her freshman year, we became friends. we would go on random adventures and outings at all hours of the day with the likes of eric rindal and allyson arendsee. emily, allyson and i would eat slow-churned dryers ice cream straight from the carton in "the reel". monthly. we even had her first communication studies class together. interpersonal communication with dr. dick morrow. he was--err--from a different era (in so many ways) and quite hilarious. eric, em and i had fight to keep our composure every day. so needless to say, emily and i go way back. so yesterday's grad photo shoot was a hoot. and a holler. we laughed, reminisced, and enjoyed our share of memorable encounters whilst we piddled around ventura. it definitely marks another favorite adventure with one of my favorite page residents. i'm thrilled that after all these years, we are still friends. this makes me one happy-jeff.
now, emily was the official winner of the j. shipley grad photo shoot giveaway. i offered a free shoot to the one who wrote in with the best reflection on their days in college. she likened it to thanksgiving, so surely she would win. (us shipleys love thanksgiving). and i quite enjoyed her insight and thoughtful musings about the college experience.
she writes, "reflecting on your college years is like trying to remember what you ate four years ago for thanksgiving dinner. you usually remember the highlights, such as the friendships, which might be the pie. you recall the staples, such as your classes, which could be the turkey or the taters. and you might remember a flop or two, such as failures and regrets, comparable to the nasty jell-o salad with celery in it..." (scroll down to the post for more of her musings).
she is emily. and this is her grad photo shoot.
cool freeway goodness.
while on jessica's shoot a few days ago, i was trying to give her words/descriptors of emotions and expressions. i failed. the first word that came out of my mouth was "intrigued". as if i could have picked a more difficult emotion. haha. so i tried again with emily and was actually able to come up with some words. victory! but i almost missed the shots though cuz i was laughing so hard.
i love it when i can sucker people into lying down on uncomfortable things. ie rocks. now, that's commitment.
i pulled a montana dennis here for sure. and i'm pretty sure i made emily go up and down these stairs 83 times. geesh.
the coolest jungle gym ever. we may or may not have played for a bit after we got the shot.
in emily's words "jeff shipley can make you look like your in the amazon on the side of a freeway." it's all in my ability to crouch. haha.
she found it comical how much i like to shoot through things. how dare she laugh at the artist. rude!
and now, a few more excerpts...
"First, college is patience. This whole period of life is steeped in the sense that you are standing on a precipice. Recently a friend of mine told me to just try to enjoy my last few weeks of college for what they are, and pretend that no unknowns are looming in my immediate future. This is like telling a pregnant woman in her 8th month to simply try to enjoy being pregnant, and to try not to think about the fact that in a few short weeks she will have a kid. This feels impossible. College for me has been a season of waiting: waiting for graduation, waiting for next year, the next dorm, the next date, the next class, the next experience. And while at times it seems absurd to simply enjoy the moment, I find that I have never lived in the moment more than in my college years. Embedded in all that waiting and misunderstanding is a kind of peace that everything will work out.
This leads me to remember that college is hope. Finding hope while you are waiting: for your graded paper, exam grade, a fiancé, internship, or a care package from your mom. For me with this waiting gave rise to opportunities for deep hope. It is precisely because my future is unknown that I can hope for improvement: improving mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually."
"College is extreme. You either don’t get enough sleep, or you get too much. You have too much to do, or you’re bored. You are over-caffeinated, underfed, over-stimulated, and often under-equipped. I had periods where I was plunged under the tide of self-doubt when my professors and peers challenged my beliefs, and also moments of bright glistening understanding. At some point in these extremes you realize that nearly nothing is black or white, and that we live in a grey, grey, world. I begin to pick my battles, fighting for what is only sure, and few things were sure. And eventually I began to peek through the windows of language, science, literature, and religion and see that they all look out upon the same landscape. Knowledge does not exist in separate ponds, but rather in one, foamy, undulating ocean. It takes going to the extremes to find the median. In college I began to learn to moderate my emotions, my energy, my health, my social life, and my academics to build the foundations for a more balanced life."
wow. i could not have said it better myself.
